Agility Robotics, ANYbotics, Clearpath Robotics, Open Robotics and Unitree Robotics all joined Boston Dynamics in the agreement. “We believe that adding weapons to robots that are remotely or autonomously operated, widely available to the public, and capable of navigating to previously inaccessible locations where people live and work, raises new risks of harm and serious ethical issues,” the group wrote. “Weaponized applications of these newly-capable robots will also harm public trust in the technology in ways that damage the tremendous benefits they will bring to society.”
To that end, the industry group pledges to “not weaponize our advanced-mobility general-purpose robots or the software we develop that enables advanced robotics and we will not support others to do so.” Nor will they allow their customers to subsequently weaponize any platforms they were sold, when possible. That’s a big caveat given the long and storied history of such weapons as the Toyota Technical, former Hilux pickups converted into DIY war machines that have been a mainstay in asymmetric conflicts since the ’80s.
“We also pledge to explore the development of technological features that could mitigate or reduce these risks,” the group continued, but “to be clear, we are not taking issue with existing technologies that nations and their government agencies use to defend themselves and uphold their laws.” They also call on policymakers as well as the rest of the robotics development community to take up similar pledges.
There weren’t a lot of surprises in store at today’s Google event in Brooklyn — after all, the company started teasing its Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro smartphones, the Pixel Watch and the Pixel Tablet months ago. Regardless, we now have all the details on Google’s latest hardware, all of which you can pre-order now in advance of the October 14th launch date (with the exception of the Pixel Tablet, which Google still says will launch sometime in 2023). In the meantime, here’s what you need to know about these new phones and watch.
The Pixel 7
Google
Just like last year’s Pixel 6, the Pixel 7 is priced at $599, making it a phone that should give you a great bang for your buck. The display is just a tiny bit smaller than last year’s model, at 6.3 inches, but it has the same 1,080 x 2,400 resolution. Also like last year, there are two camera modules on the back: a 50-megapixel standard camera and a 12-megapixel ultrawide option. The front-facing camera got a nice upgrade, though — it’s a 12-megapixel shooter with bigger pixels and a wider field of view than last year’s model. It can also be used to unlock your phone, but there’s still an under-display fingerprint sensor if you prefer.
As expected, the new Tensor G2 chip is on board here, enabling a handful of notable features as well as improving overall performance. For example, the Pixel 7 has a new feature called Photo Unblur, which uses the chip’s AI smarts to do exactly what it says — make your blurry photos more legible. You can even do this to older photos in your Google Photos library, so you can touch up old memories that you might have shot on other phones or cameras. It also powers the Super Res Zoom features so you can shoot 2x photos that come in at a full 12.5-megapixel resolution, a trick that Google’s had around for a while now. But as usual, the results will probably be better this year than before.
From a design perspective, the Pixel 7 largely keeps the look from last year’s model, with the prominent camera bar on the back. It comes in three colors (snow, obsidian and lemongrass) and the aluminum body is made from 100 percent recycled material.
The Pixel 7 Pro
Sam Rutherford/Engadget
Of the two new phones, the Pixel 7 Pro is probably the more exciting thanks to its three-lens camera system on the back. Both the 12-megapixel ultrawide camera and the 48-megapixel telephoto camera have been upgraded; the telephoto camera has the same Quad Bayer PD technology as the main 50-megapixel sensor. What this means is that, combined with the aforementioned Tensor G2 chip, the Pixel 7 Pro’s Super Res Zoom capabilities should be significantly improved.
The camera itself has a 5x optical zoom compared to the main camera, and the high resolution sensors mean you can pull a 10x zoom picture here at 12.5-megapixels. Overall, Google says you can zoom in as far as 30x if you want — we’ll have to review this phone before we can say how good these shots look in reality, but it’ll be fun to see just how well this camera can perform in the wild. The ultrawide camera also has a new macro photography mode, thanks to the wider field of view and autofocus feature.
Video shooting has also been upgraded, as all the cameras on the Pixel 7 Pro (and the Pixel 7, for that matter) can shoot 4K video at 60 fps. There’s also a new Cinematic Blur feature that automatically blurs the background in videos to make your subject pop more, not unlike what you can do with photos in portrait mode.
As for the rest of the hardware, the Pixel 7 Pro sports the same 6.7-inch screen as the Pixel 6 Pro. Like last year, it supports variable refresh rates up to 120Hz, compared to the 90Hz the Pixel 7 tops out at. Naturally, it also has the same Tensor G2 chip as the Pixel 7; the Pro does come with 12GB of RAM, compared to the 8GB in the standard model. It comes standard with 128GB of storage, but you can step up to 256GB or 512GB if you’re going to shoot a ton of video or otherwise save a lot of content on it.
At long last, the Pixel Watch
Cherlynn Low / Engadget
The Pixel Watch has been rumored for years, and we finally know a lot more about it ahead of its launch next week. It comes in a single 41mm size case, but you can get it in three stainless steel finishes (silver, black and gold). As for other customization features, Google says it’ll launch with 20 different bands and 19 different watch faces. It has a Gorilla Glass 5 crystal on top, a haptic crown and a second side button, the same essential controls you’ll find on the Apple Watch.
Unsurprisingly, there’s a lot of Fitbit integration here for activity and health tracking. Notably, the Pixel Watch continuously tracks your heart rate every single second, and it also has an ECG app and can track your sleep quality overnight. GPS means it can track activities like running without your phone, and Google says there are a total of 40 different exercise modes you can use to log different workouts.
Google says the Pixel Watch will last up to 24 hours with its always-on display, and it can be fast-charged to 50 percent in only 30 minutes. The basic model costs $349, while the LTE-capable Pixel Watch costs $50 more. While the Pixel Watch is naturally designed with Pixel phone users in mind, it’ll work with any phone running Android 8.0 or higher. You’ll also get six free months of Fitbit Premium and three months of YouTube Music Premium.
A quick update on the Pixel Tablet
Google
After a very brief tease earlier this year at I/O, Google gave us a little more detail on the upcoming Pixel Tablet. Unlike the other devices announced, the Pixel Tablet won’t arrive until sometime in 2023. Unsurprisingly, we know it’ll use the Tensor G2 chip found in Google’s latest smartphones, but we didn’t get any other spec details. We did, however, learn a bit about it’s design. Google’s vice president of product management Rose Yao told Engadget that the company developed a new “nano-ceramic coating” that she said is inspired by “the feel of porcelain” for the Pixel Tablet. She said it feels like the coating on a Le Creuset dutch oven, with tiny pieces of ceramic embedded in the tablet’s recycled aluminum frame. Ultimately, this should make for a device that has a good grippy feel.
Another neat feature we saw for the first time is the Pixel Tablet’s docking station, which essentially turns the device into a Nest Hub. This magnetic stand holds and charges the Pixel Tablet and also provides it with improved speakers for a better audio experience, whether that’s listening to tunes or making video calls. Unsurprisingly, it also has a photo frame feature, again similar to the Nest Hub.
There’s no word on release date or pricing yet, so we’ll have to be patient; hopefully we’ll hear more about the Pixel Tablet early in 2023. But, it wouldn’t surprise me if we have to wait until May for the next I/O conference to get all the details on this device.
Google showcased the Pixel 7 lineup and Pixel Watch today, which of course meant it had updates on the Assistant front. For one thing, Google’s Recorder app will be more helpful for those who use it to transcribe conversations between multiple people. Starting later this year, the app will automatically add speaker labels on Pixel 7. It will transcribe each person’s words separately.
Other AI-powered transcription services, such as Otter, generate labels for speakers too. It’s not yet clear if the speaker labels will be available on Pixel 6 or earlier devices at a later date. In addition, Pixel 7 will be able to transcribe audio messages.
Meanwhile, Google announced some updates to At a Glance, an Assistant-powered feature that automatically surfaces helpful information. You may see weather alerts if rain or snow is likely to fall in the next hour. That could help you know when to look for cover or whether to grab an umbrella as you head out. Other At a Glance updates include notifications of package deliveries from your Nest doorbell, as well as travel information, such as the weather forecast for your destination, flight updates and which baggage claim carousel to go to.
Google
Follow all of the news from Google’s Pixel 7 event right here!
Last year Google made a big change to its phone line with the introduction of its custom-designed Tensor chip. By focusing on increased AI and machine learning performance, the company was able to create more advanced apps and features for its handsets without needing help from the cloud. And now with the launch of the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro alongside the Tensor G2, it feels like Google is deepening the marriage between its hardware and software.
On the outside, Google is using a similar template to what we got with the Pixel 6 with a couple of notable tweaks. On the Pixel 7, you get a screen made from Gorilla Glass Victus, while in back, there’s an even more pronounced camera bar that now extends seamlessly from the phone’s frame across the width of the device. This should provide some added durability while still allowing the device to lie flat (well, mostly) on a table.
Similar to last year, the finishes of the two phones vary slightly between models, with the Pixel 7 getting a brushed aluminum look while Pixel 7 Pro gets a shiny, polished chassis. That said, while the Pixel 7 Pro’s design is supposed to feel a bit more premium than its cheaper sibling, I actually kind of prefer the matte look on the standard Pixel 7. And for what it’s worth, I think the Pixel 7 has slightly more fun colors as well, with options including snow, obsidian and lemongrass, compared to the slightly more sedate snow, obsidian and hazel paint jobs on the 7 Pro. And while I’m sure I’m not the first person to notice this, I still can’t shake the feeling that the back of the Pixel 7 looks like a character from Among Us. So depending on your tastes, the Pixel 7’s design could be very hit or miss, but I’m enjoying it so far.
One notable change for the Pixel 7 specifically is that with a 6.3-inch 90Hz OLED screen, it’s actually a tiny bit smaller than the outgoing Pixel 6, which feels like a small win for compact phone fans. It’s not so much that it feels like a huge difference compared to the previous model, but it might be just enough to make the device feel a bit nimbler, especially if you don’t have huge hands.
Sam Rutherford/Engadget
As for the Pixel 7 Pro, Google opted for a 6.7-inch 120Hz display. However, I must say it’s kind of hard to tell the difference in refresh rates even when you’re holding them side-by-side. And while it doesn’t show up on a spec sheet, the Pixel 7 Pro’s glass is 20 percent flatter, so there’s a bit less distortion around the edges of the screen. Both phones get the same 10.8MP front-facing camera, though it still has a fixed focusing system, which is a relatively minor inconvenience compared to the true autofocus system on the iPhone 14’s selfie shooter.
Around back, Google is using a familiar 50MP main cam alongside a 12MP ultra-wide shooter. But when it comes to photography, perhaps the biggest camera upgrade is the new 48MP 5x telephoto zoom on the Pixel 7 Pro. Not only is it longer than the Pixel 6 Pro’s 4x lens, Google also redesigned the way the camera pushes in to capture more detailed images throughout the phone’s entire range.
Sam Rutherford/Engadget
Similar to before, from 1x to 2x, the 7 Pro uses the 50-MP main sensor to take short-distance shots, and then crops as needed. But from 2x to 5x, the phone fuses images from both the main and telephoto lenses to create a more detailed composite. Then between 5x and 10x switches completely over to the zoom cam, with Google using pixel binning to reduce total resolution down from 12MP. And then above 10x, the phone uses full-res crops from the telephoto cam before the phone hits its full 30x magnification. I know this is all extremely techy, but the end result is a much smoother zoom experience across and more detailed shots that look better than anything I’ve seen from practically any other phone. That said, I’m going to want to do some more testing before I make any final judgments.
Some of the new camera software also looks impressive. There’s a Cinematic Blur feature for video that adds a soft bokeh to the background of your clips while still supporting full 10-bit color with HDR. And from what I’ve seen so far, it looks great, as if you’ve been using a much more expensive camera. And for more general use, Google says it has upgraded the Pixel 7’s image stabilization and noise correction as well.
Sam Rutherford/Engadget
Meanwhile for photos, Google says the Tensor G2 helps improve the Pixel’s Face Unblur tool and speeds Night Sight processing by up to 2x. There’s also a new Photo Unblur feature that can sharpen pics regardless of when it was taken or what camera they came from. Google says all the processing for Photo Unblur is done locally on the phone and, in a brief demo, some of the results were so good they were kind of hard to believe.
But that’s the best and worst thing about Pixels, because now that their hardware and software are so intertwined, it’s difficult to really get a sense of how they perform after only a brief hands-on. And that’s before we talk about other more niche features like faster menus for Direct My Call and the ability to transcribe audio messages into text, which I hear is popular in Europe, but less so in the US. Both the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro felt snappy and the phones’ high refresh rate displays made switching between apps feel super smooth. That said, it’s still up to Google to avoid any bugs or issues with future software updates like we experienced on the Pixel 6.
Sam Rutherford/Engadget
So for now, what I will say is that I’m definitely digging the Pixel 7’s tweaked design. Cinematic Blur makes videos look great and, as someone who loves telephoto lenses, I can’t wait to see what I can do with the 7 Pro’s new 5x zoom. And perhaps best of all, with the standard Pixel 7 retaining the $599 starting price (or $699 on Verizon for one with mmWave 5G), upgrading to Google’s latest flagship costs less than its competitors.
Follow all of the news from Google’s Pixel 7 event right here!
There have been no shortage of AirPods Pro deals in the past, but the previous-generation models have been hovering at $180 for the past few months. Now, you can pick them up for $160, which is only about $10 more than their all-time-low price. While, yes, Apple put some decent upgrades into the second-generation earbuds that just came out, those will set you back at least $240 right now. If you’re trying to stick to a budget, this is a good time to pick up the previous version — or the second-gen AirPods, which are back on sale and down to $90.
These AirPods Pro still have a lot going for them, despite the introduction of their predecessors. They have good sound quality and solid ANC, which will block out a lot of environmental noise around you. Their IPX4 water resistance makes them good workout companions, as they’ll withstand sweat pretty well, and we like that they provide hands-free Siri access for when you need to set timers, make calls and do other things without pulling out your iPhone.
And, if you didn’t already know, the AirPods Pro do work best with iPhones and other Apple devices. They’ll quickly pair when you first unbox them, and you’ll be able to switch between taking a call on your iPhone to listening to music on your MacBook fairly seamlessly. As for battery life, you’ll get about five hours of use in one go, and with the included charging case, you’ll get a total of 24 hours of listening time. Also, these AirPods Pro come with a MagSafe case, so you can wirelessly power them up if you have a compatible charger.
If you’re looking to spend even less, the second-gen AirPods are a good option now that they’re on sale for $90. We saw them briefly drop to $79 earlier this week, but that deal came and went within hours. This remains a good sale price for these buds, which provide decent sound quality, a good battery life and convenient Apple-ecosystem features like fast pairing and switching.
We’ve been waiting years and years for the Pixel Watch to finally be real. Because it’s taken so long for Google to show us its own smartwatch, expectations are high for the company to deliver something impressive. We were able to get a preview of the Pixel Watch ahead of its full launch at the Made By Google event in Brooklyn today, and honestly I’m very taken by its design.
The device is only available in one size: 41mm, though there are various band options. It’s fairly dainty, at about the same size as the small Apple Watch, but even on wrists larger than mine it didn’t look comically tiny. More importantly, its design is clean and attractive. The case without its strap feels like a polished pebble and I flipped it over and over in my hand, all while caressing its smooth edges and curves. I didn’t attempt to scratch or break the screen during my time with it, but the fact that it’s covered in a custom “3D Corning Gorilla Glass 5” gives me some assurance that it’ll survive a fall.
The case on its own has no lugs. To attach straps, you’ll have to twist attachments into grooves on the side like you’re screwing a lens onto a DSLR’s body. You’ll have to find the spot where they line up, push the head of the band slightly into the slot, then slide it in horizontally. It takes a bit of learning, but once you get it the action is easy to master.
Cherlynn Low / Engadget
Because it doesn’t have lugs, the Pixel Watch offers plenty of variation in design and can also fit more snugly on your wrist. The stainless steel case is available in matte black, polished silver and champagne gold, and the last one is my favorite. Loads of straps are available too, from the typical rubbery sports bands to those made from leather, metal mesh and links. Some of these come with lugs, so you can add a classic touch back to the timepiece.
Google’s stretch/woven band is pretty low profile, and wearing it is like gluing a pebble onto a rubber band and pulling it over your wrist, except elegant. I liked this combination — not only was it easy to wear, it was also light enough that I imagine it would be comfortable to wear to bed.
That’s important because Google has built in sleep-tracking features to the Pixel Watch, which runs what the company calls Wear OS 3.5. It’s a variation of the software that it co-engineered with Samsung last year, with some tweaks that incorporate Fitbit’s health and fitness tracking tools. You’ll get background heart rate monitoring at a rate of once every second, auto workout detection and more, thanks to the onboard blood oxygen sensor and a “multipurpose electrical sensor.”
Cherlynn Low / Engadget
But that’s not all that’s different about Wear OS 3.5. Google has made some new watch faces — 18 families altogether — that allow for different views and customizable complications. You can add things like your steps progress, the weather and more. Features you’d expect, like GPS, LTE, Google Pay and third-party app support are all available. There’s also an Always On Display, and in spite of this and the higher rate of pulse reading, Google says the Pixel Watch’s 294 mAh battery should last 24 hours, thanks to a dedicated low-power co-processor for these types of tasks. When you run out of juice, the Pixel Watch should get up to 50 percent charged in 30 minutes, using Google’s USB-C magnetic cable.
For more intensive actions, the Watch taps its Exynos 9110 processor, and with 32GB of storage onboard, there’s plenty of room for apps or saving music for offline playback.
From my brief time with the Pixel Watch so far, the new Wear OS feels very similar to Apple’s watchOS. That’s not a bad thing — Android users have long lacked a smartwatch that’s comparable to the Apple Watch. Though Google’s Watch works best with Pixel phones, it’s also compatible with phones running Android 8 or newer.
So far, the Pixel Watch is one of the most beautiful smartwatches I’ve seen, and I’ve seen many. Though some Fossil wearables look nicer, I’m excited by what Google is offering with the new Wear OS and Fitbit app. We’ll need to spend more time with it in the real world for me to know if it’s a decent Apple Watch competitor, but for now, color me intrigued.
Follow all of the news from Google’s Pixel 7 event right here!
